1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an anti-theft apparatus for a box-shaped article intended to be sold, specifically a cassette with a data carrier, such as, e.g., a compact disk, having a casing for receipt of the article, which casing includes at least one narrow side having a slide-in opening and a signal transmitter adapted to trigger an alarm, having locking means arranged on or cooperating with same and which are adapted to engage the article located in the casing, which locking means are adapted to be unlocked in order to separate the article from the casing.
1. Description of the Prior Art
The casing of known apparatuses, of the kind set forth above consists commonly of a hard plastic material, which casing is adapted to receive a box-shaped article to be rendered safe against theft such as for instance a CD-cassette, whereby the casing is equipped with a so-called oscillating circuit label, such that when passing an induction loop located at the exit of stores or warehouses, an alarm is triggered when the casing including the article is taken along without having been paid for. Generally, the reusable casing is severed by means of a special tool from the CD-cassette at the cash register of the store. Hereto a great variety of locking systems are known, whereby the operation thereof is made by bolts, pegs or hooks which couple the casing to the article until the uncoupling is done by means of a special tool.
As mentioned above, a great variety of locking system has been used on used casings of a hard plastic material. A drawback is that a safe locking was not always secured. Also in the future structure of the casing will have to be changed due to environmental reasons, i.e., in place of a hard plastic material softer more environmentally harmless plastic will be used. Most of the earlier systems cannot be used with such so-called soft casings because when exerting common forces a separation between casing and article can be achieved relatively easily. Thus, quite obviously the object of the desired anti-theft apparatus is no longer met.